| Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg)  "Neverender" byJustice andTame Impala, the 2025 recipient | |
| Awarded for | Quality vocal or instrumentaldance music/electronic music performances |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |
| First award | 1998 |
| Most wins | Skrillex (4) |
| Most nominations | Skrillex,Bonobo,The Chemical Brothers andMadonna (5) |
| Website | grammy |
TheGrammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known asBest Dance Recording) is an award presented at theGrammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,[1] to recording artists for works containing quality vocal performances in thedance music and/orelectronic music genres. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by theNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".[2]
The award for Best Dance Recording was first presented toDonna Summer andGiorgio Moroder in 1998 for the song "Carry On". In 2003, the Academy moved the category from the "Pop" field into a new "Dance" field, alongside the categoryBest Dance/Electronic Album.[3] According to the Academy, the award is designated for solo, duo, group or collaborative performances (vocal orinstrumental), and is limited tosingles or tracks only.[4]
The award goes to the artist, producer and mixer. The engineer and songwriter can apply for a Winners Certificate.[5]
Skrillex has won the award a record four times, withJustin Timberlake,Diplo andThe Chemical Brothers winning twice.Skrillex,Bonobo,The Chemical Brothers andMadonna share the record for the most nominations, with five.Bonobo also holds the record for the most nominations without a win.
Though she was not the first to suggest that the genre be recognized officially, Ellyn Harris and her Committee for the Advancement of Dance Music lobbied for more than two years to encourage the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to acknowledge dance music.[6] Some Academy members debated whether dance music, with its heavy use of layering,remixing, "lack of melody or verse", and numerousvarieties, was truly considered music. Others were concerned that dance music was not a long-lasting genre, fearing the category would face retirement much like the award forBest Disco Recording, which was presented for one year only at the22nd Grammy Awards in 1980.[6]
In 1998, Harris' efforts paid off when the Academy first presented the award to Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder at the40th Grammy Awards for the song "Carry On". While the Academy had once been quoted as saying that "they considered dance music as something pop artists had created in their most frivolous moments", Ivan Bernstein, executive director of the organization's Florida branch, insisted that an award for excellence in dance music would not exist "if there were concerns about excellence".[6]
Starting from the64th Annual Grammy Awards in 2022, the category was renamed from Best Dance Recording to Best Dance/Electronic Recording.[7] Starting from the66th Annual Grammy Awards in 2024, a sister categoryBest Dance Pop Recording, was established in order to prevent well-established pop artists who incorporate dance music into their work from dominating the category over dedicated dance acts.[8]
Neil Tennant of thePet Shop Boys has criticised the award, saying "there's always been a sense that people just think you've pressed a few buttons rather than do real music, the Grammys [...] kind of diss two huge massive genres at the same time by putting them together".[9]
Writing forMixmag, Annabel Ross noted a lack of gender and racial diversity associated with the award, claiming that one "might assume, judging by the winners and nominees [in the category] that the best dance music is made by white people (mostly men), and that commercial success is a marker of quality".[10]
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| Year[I] | Winner(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Donna Summer andGiorgio Moroder · Giorgio Moroder, producer | "Carry On" |
| [11] |
| 1999 | Madonna · Madonna &William Orbit, producers · Pat McCarthy, mixer | "Ray of Light" |
| [12] |
| 2000 | Cher · Brian Rawling &Mark Taylor, producers · Mark Taylor, mixer | "Believe" |
| [13] |
| 2001 | Baha Men | "Who Let the Dogs Out?" | [14] | |
| 2002 | Janet Jackson · Janet Jackson,Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, producers · Steve Hodge, mixer | "All for You" |
| [15] |
| 2003 | Dirty Vegas · Ben Harris, Paul Harris & Steve Smith, producers | "Days Go By" |
| [16] |
| 2004 | Kylie Minogue · Rob Davis &Cathy Dennis, producers · Rob Davis, Cathy Dennis, Bruce Elliott-Smith & Phil Larsen, mixers | "Come into My World" |
| [17] |
| 2005 | Britney Spears · Bloodshy & Avant, producers · Niklas Flyckt, mixer | "Toxic" |
| [18] |
| 2006 | The Chemical Brothers andQ-Tip · The Chemical Brothers, producer · Steve Dub and The Chemical Brothers, mixers | "Galvanize" |
| [19] |
| 2007 | Justin Timberlake featuringTimbaland · Nate (Danja) Hills,Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, producers · Jimmy Douglass, mixer | "SexyBack" |
| [4] |
| 2008 | Justin Timberlake · Nate (Danja) Hills,Tim Mosley and Justin Timberlake, producers · Jimmy Douglass and Tim Mosley, mixers | "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows" |
| [20] |
| 2009 | Daft Punk · Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, producers and mixers | "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Alive 2007)" |
| [21] |
| 2010 | Lady Gaga · RedOne, producer · Robert Orton, RedOne and Dave Russell, mixers | "Poker Face" |
| [22] |
| 2011 | Rihanna · Kuk Harrell,Stargate andSandy Vee, producers · Philip Tan and Sandy Vee mixers | "Only Girl (In the World)" |
| [23] |
| 2012 | Skrillex · Skrillex, producer and mixer | "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" |
| [24] |
| 2013 | Skrillex andSirah · Skrillex, producer and mixer | "Bangarang" |
| [25] |
| 2014 | Zedd featuringFoxes · Zedd, producer and mixer | "Clarity" |
| [26] |
| 2015 | Clean Bandit featuringJess Glynne · Grace Chatto and Jack Patterson, producers · Wez Clarke and Jack Patterson, mixers | "Rather Be" |
| [27] |
| 2016 | Jack Ü (Skrillex and Diplo) withJustin Bieber · Sonny Moore and Thomas Pentz, producers and mixers | "Where Are Ü Now" |
| [28] |
| 2017 | The Chainsmokers featuringDaya · The Chainsmokers, producers · Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young, mixer | "Don't Let Me Down" |
| [29] |
| 2018 | LCD Soundsystem · James Murphy, producer and mixer | "Tonite" |
| [30] |
| 2019 | Silk City andDua Lipa featuringDiplo andMark Ronson · Jarami,Alex Metric,Riton & Silk City, producers · Josh Gudwin, mixer | "Electricity" |
| [31] |
| 2020 | The Chemical Brothers · The Chemical Brothers, producers · Steve Dub Jones and Tom Rowlands, mixers | "Got to Keep On" |
| [32] |
| 2021 | Kaytranada featuringKali Uchis · Kaytranada, producer · Neal H Pogue, mixer | "10%" |
| [33] |
| 2022 | Rüfüs du Sol · Jason Evigan, producer · Cassian, mixer | "Alive" |
| [34] |
| 2023 | Beyoncé · Beyoncé,Terius "The-Dream" Gesteelde-Diamant, Jens Christian Isaksen &Christopher "Tricky" Stewart producers · Stuart White, mixer | "Break My Soul" |
| [35] |
| 2024 | Skrillex,Fred Again &Flowdan · BEAM,Elley Duhé, Fred Again & Skrillex, producers; Skrillex, mixer | "Rumble" |
| [36] |
| 2025 | Justice &Tame Impala · Gaspard Augé & Xavier De Rosnay, producers;Gaspard Augé, Xavier De Rosnay,Damien Quintard & Vincent Taurelle, mixers | "Neverender" |
| [37] |
| 2026 | TBA | TBA |
| [38] |
^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
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For the first time, the best dance recording category is broken out into its own dance field. In previous years, this category was in the pop field...
